Today's Read & Giveaway: Death under Glass by Jennifer McAndrews

What if your best friend and her ex-husband became targets of crime? Naturally, you'd be concerned for their safety. For Georgia Kelly, accountant and stained-glass artist, worry turns to fear when her friend Carrie discovers the door to her store has been unlocked. Georgia warns her not to go in:

"Oh, Georgia, I'm sure it's fine."

The door swung open and Carrie ducked inside. Maybe I did have a bit of paranoia going on. All those years living in the city might have made me somewhat overcautious. This was Wenwood for Pete's sake. It was more realistic for me to expect her shut off the store alarm and shout to me it was safe to enter.

I did not expect a scream.

—Death under Glass by Jennifer McAndrews (Penguin Random House / Berkley Prime Crime, 2015, pp. 96-97)

Quick Facts

• Setting: Wenwood, New York; modern times
• Circumstances: Georgia Kelly has moved home from the city to reinvent herself as a stained-glass artist. Life in a small town is, however, anything but peaceful: local politics heat up over development issues and an office building is destroyed by arson. But when her friend Carrie becomes a target to crime and a local murder seems to be linked, Georgia can't help but get involved. Besides, the investigating police officer is that that cute guy she met a while back when her grandfather had a little trouble.
• Characters: Georgia Kelly, artist/accountant; Carrie, antiques store owner/decorator; Diana, police officer; Christopher, police office; Grandy, Georgia's grandfather; various townspeople, lawyers, and other police
• Genre: cozy mystery
• Themes: friendship, greed, family
• What I thought: This was a fun, light mystery that's perfect for a summer's evening. Interesting characters, a hint of romance, and few red herrings make for a good read. As with most cozy mysteries, the story is as much about the small town and the main characters as it is about finding the bad guy. I particularly liked the friendships of Georgia, Carrie, and Diana and thought that the growing attraction between Chris and Georgia was realistic and sweet.
• Things to knows: This is the second in the Stained-Glass Mystery series, but I didn't feel lost at all, so you can start right here if you'd like. I plan to go back and read the first book, Ill-Gotten Panes, so I can learn more about Georgia's move from the city to her grandfather's house.

The Giveaway

Thanks to Berkley Prime Crime, I can offer one of my readers with a U.S. mailing address a copy of Jennifer McAndrew's Death under Glass. All you have to do to be entered for a chance to win is to fill out the form. I'll pick a winner via random number generator on July 15. Once the winner has been confirmed, I'll erase all personal information from my computer. Good luck!